


cracks in the pavement

by vagarius



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Friendship/Love, Gen, N Things, Slice of Life, although it's more like childhood acquaintances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:53:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24904870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vagarius/pseuds/vagarius
Summary: 4 times Kazunari and Misumi meet, plus the 1 time they meet again.
Relationships: Ikaruga Misumi & Miyoshi Kazunari
Comments: 16
Kudos: 60





	cracks in the pavement

**Author's Note:**

> i actually had most of this written for a while but i was stuck on one (1) scene. please enjoy!!
> 
> (can be seen as purely platonic or pre-slash, whatever floats your boat lol)

1.

They meet in the summer.

The sidewalk pavement is still warm from the sun, even as the day comes to a close. Kazunari's eyes fall to his shadow, sharp and elongated across the expanse of gray. Voices still echo from the park and the soccer field as he passes them, and Kazunari briefly wonders how loud it must be in the midst of them. _Too loud,_ he thinks, as he hikes his bag higher up on his shoulder. _The library is much more peaceful. Peace, relaxation… that's what summer is for, isn't it?_

Kazunari exhales, idly brushing his hair behind his ear. When he looks up again, he notices a boy crouching under a tree to his left, carefully balanced on his toes to keep his clothes off the ground. At least, that's what Kazunari assumes is the reasoning; Kazunari has done the same.

Kazunari plans on passing him, just like he passes the park and the soccer field – silently, and without pause – but a loud grumble startles him enough to stop, right next to the boy by the sidewalk.

Kazunari turns to the boy, not quite meeting his eyes. The boy says nothing, and Kazunari is about to continue on his way when the sound repeats itself, slightly louder than before. The boy's mouth hasn't moved at all.

Kazunari blinks. "… Are you hungry?" he asks, looking away. His grip on his bag strap tightens.

The boy shakes his head, even as his stomach growls for the third time. His gaze lands somewhere to the left of Kazunari's feet. "If I go home now," he mumbles quietly, "I'll be late for dinner anyway."

Kazunari can't say he fully understands the boy's answer – _you can just heat your dinner up later, can't you? –_ but he rummages through his bag regardless, fishing out the granola bar he never ate at the library.

Kazunari holds it out to the boy, eyes determinedly fixed toward the setting sun. The boy stares at him, unmoving, so Kazunari thrusts the item closer, feeling like he's already exhausted his verbal word count for the day.

The boy finally takes the granola bar out of his hands, but he's still just _staring_ at it, and Kazunari wants to be home before dark. With a small huff, Kazunari turns on his heel, and continues following his shadow home.

By the next morning, the incident has already left his mind. It's raining, so for the last day of summer break, Kazunari studies at home.

2.

Two months pass before Kazunari sees the boy again.

They meet at a crosswalk. School kids and office workers file around him, waiting for the pedestrian light to turn from red to green. A familiar kid steps up to his right, looking tired. The boy blinks at him, and Kazunari blinks back. A few moments later, the boy perks up, then starts rummaging through his jacket pockets. He pulls out a granola bar, then holds it out to Kazunari like a prize.

Kazunari blinks again, then gently grabs the granola bar out of the boy's hand. The bar is obviously crushed, and the flavor isn't the one Papi usually buys him, but the wrapping is unmistakable. Kazunari wonders how long the boy has had it on him.

Kazunari looks up, eyes trained on the boy's shoulder.

_You didn't have to return it,_ he wants to say. _It's not even a flavor I like._

"Thanks," he murmurs instead, tucking the granola bar into his bag. For the shortest of seconds, Kazunari meets the boy's eyes. "… What's your name?"

The light turns green, and the crowd begins to push them forward. "Misumi," the boy murmurs back, tilting his head toward him. "It means triangle."

He turns toward Kazunari, then, hands forming a triangle over his heart. He smiles.

A moment later, he runs ahead of the crowd, leaving Kazunari to walk on his own.

3.

The rain hasn't let up since the afternoon.

Kazunari's umbrella protects him from the worst of it, but the air is still frigid, and the periodic gusts of wind keep spraying water onto his glasses. He wipes the outside of one lens with his sleeve, only serving to blur his vision further. Kazunari sighs, his warm breath condensing in the cold.

There's a boy huddled under one of the store front awnings, his clothing damp from the rain and his hair sticking grossly to his forehead. He has his hands wrapped around his legs, body carefully balanced on his toes. The splash of lavender is familiar, and Kazunari realizes he knows this boy.

"Misumi?" Kazunari mumbles without meaning to. Misumi looks up with a start, the movement causing water to slide from his hair and down his cheek. He must have been waiting out here for a while. The shoulders and wrists of his sepia blazer have turned a dark, muddy brown, while the ankles of his white pants are soaked gray. _That uniform,_ Kazunari thinks. _Isn't the school rather far?_

Misumi is still staring at him, so Kazunari steps under the awning, uselessly covering Misumi with his umbrella. He looks away. "Is your home far from here?"

Misumi hums. "A little. But I wasn't planning on going home, anyway."

Kazunari looks out at the rain, still falling steadily onto the street. _Staying out in the rain will make you sick,_ Papi had once told him.

_Why would I ever go out in the rain, Papi?_

_Ah… I guess you wouldn't, huh? Well, remember it just in case._

Kazunari's shoulders pull inward, pulling his umbrella back with them. "My home isn't far from here," he says, then shuffles from foot to foot. "You could… stay over, until the rain stops. If you don't want to go home yet."

Misumi stares at him with wide eyes. More rainwater drips down his face. "Are you sure?"

Kazunari pouts. "I wouldn't have asked, otherwise," he mutters, shuffling again.

Misumi stands up slowly, briefly hopping on his toes. He's shorter than Kazunari, even while Kazunari is slouching. He smiles softly. "What's your name?"

_Oh,_ Kazunari thinks. _I never told him._ "Miyoshi Kazunari." After a moment, Kazunari holds out his umbrella again, waiting for Misumi to slide under it.

Misumi cups his hands over his mouth and exhales. "Thank you, Kazu."

Kazunari looks down at their feet, the thin layer of liquid on the pavement rippling under their shoes.

4.

The next year passes quickly, for Kazunari. He spends most of it at his desk, studying and drawing in turns.

He still catches Misumi in glimpses – a flicker of lavender hair here, a flash of orange eyes there – but it isn't until the early spring winds begin to blow that he truly sees him again, leaned against the wall of a convenience store.

Misumi grins shyly when Kazunari stops in front of him. Kazunari stays silent, his eyes flitting between Misumi and the glass door he's huddled beside. With the sort of impulsive determination he doesn't typically possess, Kazunari marches into the convenience store, then eventually exits with two bentos in hand. He hands one to Misumi without preamble, and Misumi takes the box with a painfully familiar reverence, eyes wide as he stares.

For a moment, neither of them move, frozen in space as the world circles around them. But then Misumi is springing upwards, his fingers curling loosely around Kazunari's wrist, and the world begins to move once more. Misumi gently pulls on Kazunari's arm, his footsteps light as he guides them away from the main street. Kazunari doesn't pay much attention to where they're going, distracted by the delicate way Misumi holds him, and the extra centimeters he's gained.

Kazunari blinks when Misumi lets go of his wrist to brandish his arms outward, a pleased smile on his face. The tree behind him rustles in the wind, Misumi's hair fluttering in turn.

It's not the same tree, or the same patch of sidewalk, or even the same time of day as in that fateful summer. But if Kazunari closes his eyes, he can still see the orange of the setting sun, and the way his shadow had stretched out in front of him, long and thin. The sidewalk had been warm, that day, but the warmth had not reached him.

The pavement here remains chilly under the late March sun. The days are still short, and Kazunari won't be able to make it to the library and back before dark like he intended. But it's nice, Kazuanri thinks, just to sit on the pavement at Misumi's side, eating convenience store bentos with their fingers.

This time, the warmth reaches him.

+1.

They meet again in the summer.

After that spring day, the two of them never had another picnic, or shared another umbrella, and Kazunari's middle school life passed by in a flash. The boy had left his mind by the time high school came around, and Kazunari had become focused on transforming himself. _But I never really forgot, did I?_

_Part of me will always be there, on that patch of sidewalk._

"Misumi?" Kazunari murmurs, staring at the man through the doorway.

The man blinks at him, tilting his head. After a few moments, a soft recognition fills his eyes, and a smile freely rises on his face. "Kazu!" he cheers, and the quiet kid inside of him startles at the volume. He wonders when Misumi learned to be loud.

_He's probably wondering the same,_ Kazunari thinks. "Yup!" he answers, throwing up a peace sign. "It's sure been a while."

Misumi giggles. "Kazu's so bright, now. I'm glad."

Kazunari smiles back. "So is Sumi~"

Misumi tilts his head again. "Sumi?"

Kazunari's smile grows. "It's a nickname!" he cheers. "Because Sumi and I are buds, aren't we?"

There's a lot more to it than that, but there's only so much Kazunari can unearth in one afternoon.

Misumi's face breaks into a toothy grin, brighter and warmer than the summer sun. "That's right!" he agrees. "Kazu and I are buds!"

**Author's Note:**

> twitter: @jea9yj


End file.
